Next Week

Please check this writeboard, password: imagine, for next week's schedule of events and for items to donate.

Thanks!

Spelling Words and Update

• We are in the homeward stretch of the school year and still going very strong!! Our final unit has begun, Inventions, Innovations, and Discovery. The girls are eager to learn and excited about all the learning it could possibly entail. We are also reading Roald Dahl's novel The BFG and they are very excited about it!

• Our spelling test from last week should be in your little darling's clear folder today. We are still struggling to apply the rule, but the girls are determined to become better spellers and want to try a similar approach again with the new spelling list. So, there are three IB unit vocabulary words to learn: invention, creativity, and discovery. The spelling rule that will be learned and applied is: words that end in 'ch', 'sh', 'x', 's', 'ss', and 'zz' need an 'es' added to the end when made plural. Examples are buzzes, catches, boxes, and buses.

• This Friday, April 22 is another PE Dress Down Day. If your daughter would like to wear something other than her uniform, she may donate $2 to the PE department to do so.

Spring Break

Spring Break is next week! There will be no school April 4-8. A spring break homework packet will come home today in clear folders. It is optional. Also, spelling tests will come home today. I was very disappointed in the results of many of the tests. Please be sure you and your little darling understand that with the exception of the unit words, the other words will be skill based and the specific words will be unknown prior to the test. THERE WILL BE A RETEST ON Friday, April 15th. Please be sure that your little darling studies for the retest. HAVE A GREAT BREAK!

Update, Spelling Test, and Homework

A few notes:

• The copier was down today and homework was unable to be copied. Hopefully, it will come home tomorrow. The front page can be accessed via the homework link.


• There will be a spelling test this Friday, April 1st.


• This week's spelling test will be a skill based test, not all a specific list. There will be three IB unit words: scarcity, advertisement, and barter. The skill will be adding -ed or -ing to verbs. The girls will need to know to double the final consonant on short vowel, single syllable words such as hop to hopped or hopping, sled to sledded or sledding. There will also be words that have a final 'e' and it will need to be dropped when adding the suffix. I would suggest giving mock tests after some practice to prepare your little darling for Friday's test. (The root words will be encodeable words.)


• Please be sure that you and your little one are in the brainstorming process for the final project. They will present their chosen project on their assigned day in May.


• Thanks to those who attended the Auction on Saturday night. Congrats to the Caldas Family on their winning bid of our fabulous bench!!!


• Spring Break, April 4-8: no school


• We have really been enjoying our time in the computer lab each Monday morning! We work on various technology terms and skills. At this time, your little darling should be using two hands on the keyboard (this will make formal typing easier), know how to use the caps lock, number lock, and tab keys, able to minimize, maximize, and close windows, and use Microsoft Word to type and save a file.


• STAR reading assessment was given and Diagnostic Reports will come home in the clear folders.


• There are NO more mystery readers signed up for the remainder of the school year. This really is something that the girls look forward to each week. Please reach out and see if there is someone you know that would be willing to come read to the P. Chicks!!!

Weekly Update

Info to Know

• We need Junior Achievement volunteers!! Our next unit, Trade, fits JA's lessons perfectly! There are five prepared, easy lessons, one for each week. If you are willing to take on teaching one or more and taking a quick training from Mrs. McConnell, please let me know!
• Six Flags Reading Logs are due on Tuesday, March 1. Please complete 360 minutes of reading, record, and turn in the log to receive a free Six Flags ticket for the summer!
• Our Class Social will be on Saturday, March 5 @ the Atlanta Food Bank. We will be delivering the non-perishable items we collected for the 100th day, taking a tour of the food bank, and eating lunch afterwards at West Egg Cafe. If you are able to attend beginning at 10:15, please email Tamara Caldas so she can notify the Food Bank of how many to expect.
• Please be sure to sign up for a conference time on the writeboard.
• We are in need of one calculator. If you are able to donate one, thank you!
• Don't forget our first grade girls' book swap. There are lots of great books to share!

Academic Update

• Our week has been focused on finishing our Weather unit, including finishing our Knowledgeable project presentations. We took our spelling test, completed 3/4 of our math test, and started our new unit, Trade.
• Next week: more on Trade, complete the math test, two half days, computer lab, no reading groups, and new spelling words

Conference Sign Up

Conference dates are Wednesday, March 2 & Thursday, March 3. These conferences will be student led with the girls discussing their strengths and weaknesses along with a review of work that has been kept in their portfolios. Please check out our writeboard to sign up for a time.

Thanks!

Class Social

We are having a class social!! Saturday, March 5th @ 10:15 we will visit the Atlanta Food Bank to deliver our 100 cans we collected for the 100th day. We will also take a tour of the Food Bank. Then we will dine out together at the West Egg Café, 1100 Howell Mill Road afterwards. Thanks to Tamara Caldas for this great idea and setting it all up!

Address and Directions

A Quick Update

• Thanks to those who have signed up for items from the writeboard for the 'Pal'entine's Day celebration! I'm sure it will be a wonderful day!
• The girls were quite sad about the missing mystery reader last week. Please check out that writeboard and sign up! They love the guessing and mystery!
• Re-enrollment paperwork and lunch menus are due on the 18th.
• PTA meeting on Tuesday night @ 6:30.
• Last week's spelling words were chosen mostly by the girls. Please sign and return them. The next list will focus on plurals ending with -y and requiring changing the -y to -ies.
• This week we will wrap our Weather unit with group assessment projects before our three day Winter Break, Feb. 21-23.

Weekly Update

News to Know

• We are still missing three books from the Henry County Library. The combined cost of the three missing books is $76.91. Please, please, please double check your books at home for the missing titles: Up North, Down South: A Book About Map Skills, Magic School Bus Blows Its Top, Annie and the Wild Animals
• This Thursday, February 10 is our school Math Fair from 5-7 pm. We need four student classroom volunteers to be present for thirty minutes to be a first grade math ambassador at our tables. If your little darling is willing please let me know ASAP.
• Our Make-Up snow day will be on two current half days. They will become full student days: March 16 & May 25.
• Last week's math homework was mis-paced. We are working on lesson 5.8 today and will finish this week with lesson 5.10. Please review the corresponding homelinks from last week's homework this week.
• The next Boxtop submission deadline is February 21. Keep clipping, saving, and submitting!
• Student Council will be selling carnation valentines this week for Valentine's Day delivery. They can be purchased during lunch for $2.00.
• Don't forget Scholastic Book Orders are online and available until February 16th. Our online class activation code is GLFVV.
• We are participating in "Pennies for Patients." Your daughter should have brought home a small collection box on Friday to collect them.
• THE SPELLING TEST THIS WEEK WILL BE ON THURSDAY!
• Valentine's Day is Monday, February 14th. We will have a 'Pal'entine's Celebration in the class on Monday to celebrate friendship. Please have your little darling working on her 'Pal'entine's Day cards to exchange on that day. Also, we will have a special partner snack (please check the writeboard) and make a 'mailbox' in class. Please be looking at home for a container to decorate here at school; send those in on Friday or Monday.

Chinese Lunar New Year

In celebration of the New Year, the girls may wear a red shirt on Thursday with uniform bottoms or red Chinese clothing. If you have any questions, please shoot me an email

Weekly Update

News to Know

• Tomorrow is the 100th day of school! Please send in items you might have signed up for our special snack and five canned food items for our 100 item donation. It should be a fun day!
• Re-enrollment forms are due February 18th to the main office staff with all requested paperwork.
• Tuesday, February 1st there is a PTA sponsored dine-out @ 5 Seasons brewery. Please come out to support the school, check out some of our own Chinese dancers, and taste some yummy brew made by our IB Parent Unit of Inquiry group.
• Congrats to our classroom Spelling Bee winners Kara & Jayla! Good luck on Tuesday in the school Bee!
• Tomorrow I will check reading logs in agendas for Book It! Please be sure that January's reading has been recorded.

Academic Update

• Last week, we completed a Language Arts cumulative test. It was sent home in the clear folders on Friday. Please review it with your little darling, sign it, and return it if you have not done so already.
• Last week we dove into the water portion of weather. We learned the definition of precipitation as well as examples. We also discussed the water cycle and the three states of matter. There were a lot of new words and vocabulary. Also, it was great to do a couple of experiments on our own as well as with the traveling field trip from High Touch, High Tech: Weather or Not?! In math, we worked a lot with place value, comparisons, digits, and had explorations. Did you know that we should always work our ones place first? Reading groups got back on track focusing on fluency, expression, and comprehension. We are still working on reviewing and editing our writing to be sure to include a title, topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a conclusion. IT WAS A BUSY WEEK!!
• This week will discuss weather prediction, meteorology, and weather tools. We will focus on being reflective, fair, and compassionate. In reading groups, we will focus on the main idea, so please discuss that when reading at home. In math, we will continue to add and compare two digit numbers and number stories.

100th Day!-UPDATED

The 100th day of school is Tuesday, February 1st! I have many ideas for that day, but want the girls to narrow them and choose their favorites. I am sure that they will want to have the 100 piece snack mix so I have created a writeboard of items we will need. Please send them in on Monday so they can be prepared for Tuesday's celebration.

Also, I am thinking of a donation of 100 items. I want the girls to have some ownership and decisions, but please be prepared. (guidance will probably be towards 100 canned goods) Also, is there someone that would be willing to deliver these to a food bank? The girls agreed to the 100 canned food donation. Tonight they are supposed to figure out how many can they will each need to bring for 23 people to have 100 cans.

Here are some 100th day activity websites:

Starfall Interactive 100th Day ebook
Count Along to 100
Splat Square
Give the Dog a Bone-my personal favorite!

AR testing

AR testing can now be done at any time. The weekend restrictions have been disabled! Have fun and happy reading!

Just Announced:IWIA Spelling Bee!

Today a short list of possible words will be sent home to study for the Spelling Bee. We will hold a short Bee in the classroom on Monday. The top two spellers from our class will compete in a K-3 Bee on Tuesday. So study those spelling strategies and good luck!

Weekly Update for the New Year

We are back on track for the New Year, despite the crazy, icy start to our schedule! Here are new links, info, and updates.

Info to Know

• We can now take AR tests at home! Click here to go to the website to test at home. Remind our little darlings to do their best and take testing seriously. If you need a user name and password reminder, shoot me an email.


• Please be sure to review the Unit 4 math tests that are in your little ones clear folder with them. Sign and return the test on Monday.


• Thank you to all that returned the intention form for the Rising First Grade chats! These will happen on Thursday, January 27 @ 4pm for the telephone conference and @ 4:30 for the on-campus conference.


• Our class will be partnering with Mrs. McConnell's class to start a book swapping club. Look for a flyer early next week!


• Please go to the writeboard via the webpage to sign up Mystery Readers! The girls really love to have the clues and a person come to read to them and so far we only have one person signed up!

Academic Update

• This week we have finished our math assessment for unit 4. Check out our tests and review concepts which we might have struggled! We worked on creating paragraphs/stories with a topic, supporting details, and a conclusion. Creating the conclusion is the hardest for us! Also we reestablished our daily routine, especially center time where we demonstrated that we can balance doing our best on assignments with time management. We also discussed various weather words, rainbows, and MLK.


• Next week: review of place value (from this week), greater than, less than or equal to, explorations, weight, precipitation, the water cycle, creating cohesive stories and paragraphs, proofreading our writing, STAR testing

On a personal note, I shared a secret with the girls this week....please ask them to share it with you!